August. 18, 2005
New leadership for Purdue agricultural research is forward thinking
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The newly named Purdue University director of Agricultural Research Programs says that emerging technologies and changing times are contributing to a reinvention of agriculture.
Sonny Ramaswamy, currently head of the Kansas State University Department of Entomology, officially will take the helm as director and associate dean on Jan. 1. He assumes the duties from Randy Woodson, who is now dean of Purdue Agriculture.
"Sonny is a visionary and optimist who has the academic leadership and research experience necessary to move Purdue agricultural science programs forward in this continually evolving world," Woodson said. "We are anxious for him to arrive at Purdue in January, but in the meantime, he will be on campus often during the interim to begin working with faculty and staff."
Ramaswamy, a native of India and an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow, has been Kansas State entomology department head since 1997. His goal is to help position Purdue as the preeminent land-grant institution, he said.
"One of my roles at Purdue will be to work with the administration to facilitate and encourage more creative, team approaches for research projects and to persuade more faculty to pursue these opportunities, along with seeking increased funding and new sources of financial support," Ramaswamy said.
Currently, Purdue Agricultural Research Programs has nearly 300 principal scientific investigators. Last year they garnered more than 1,000 grants totaling $54 million from funding agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Energy, along with private groups such as the Indiana Soybean Board.
Purdue Agriculture's strategic goals include expanded interdisciplinary research in environmental sciences, functional foods, safer food systems, plant-grown pharmaceuticals and comparative medicine to find treatments and cures for diseases in people and animals.
Purdue Agriculture's scientists are involved in multidepartment, multi-institution centers for comparative medicine, climate change research, food safety engineering, animal welfare and cancer research, which is National Cancer Institute-designated. The Center for Comparative Medicine is a collaboration of the Purdue Department of Animal Sciences and School of Veterinary Medicine and the Indiana University School of Medicine. The Purdue Climate Change Research Center is a collaboration of about 30 researchers from 10 university departments. The Cancer Center, the Center for Food Safety Engineering and the Center for Food Animal Well-Being are interdisciplinary collaborations of scientists from across campus and from government agencies.
Ramaswamy said these types of partnerships are the future of agriculture.
"The conundrum for institutions such as Purdue is the ever-increasing population growth and the diminishing natural resources, including agricultural land," he said. "The question is not how we deal with these opposing issues, but how well can science-based knowledge be used to develop better utilization of resources.
"As scientists in colleges of agriculture, we must now focus on areas such as human and animal health; genomics and biotechnology; post-genomics research and development; bio-based products; food security and safety; human nutrition; invasive species issues; and environmental, natural resource and land use management," Ramaswamy said. "Then we must successfully transfer these research results from the laboratory bench to public use."
After earning his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, India, Ramaswamy completed his doctorate at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He then did postdoctoral research at Michigan State University before joining the faculty at Mississippi State University in 1982. Kansas State hired him in 1997 as head of entomology. In 2002, the university bestowed upon him the KSU President's Award for Outstanding Department Head.
A Kansas State University distinguished professor, Ramaswamy is an experienced fundamental researcher, field application researcher and academic manager. His research, funded by several federal agencies and private groups, has included studying the mechanisms underlying insect reproduction and how to alter it in order to manage pests.
Writer: Susan A. Steeves, (765) 496-7481, ssteeves@purdue.edu
Sources: Randy Woodson, (765) 494-8391, woodson@purdue.edu
Sonny Ramaswamy, (785) 532-6154, sonny@ksu.edu
Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
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